And The Game Goes On As Usual

Cheerleaders dressed in sweat suits and rain parkas? A caul of umbrellas over a disappointingly sparse crowd of 500 when 3,000 were expected? Sleet accumulating like snow on the barren bleachers?

Could it be Green Bay in the fall, Nebraska during the rainy season? How about Moravian versus Muhlenberg in a bitter college football rivalry at Muhlenberg Field yesterday?

A steady downpour turned a well groomed field sloppy and kept away an estimated 2,500 fans according to sports information people for both local colleges.

The fair weather fans missed an incredible show, but they also missed the opportunity of a lifetime. On his 16th carry of the game, senior tailback Jimmy Joseph managed to do what no other Moravian College football player had done before.

The Parkland product managed a very tough six yard slice through the line on that carry, making him the first Greyhound runner ever to reach the 1,000 yard mark in a single season. That's first as in only, and Moravian fielded a football team back in the 1890's.

Surprisingly, there was no euphoria from the Greyhounds' sideline when Joseph crossed the magic barrier. There was no stoppage of play, no awarding of a game ball and no hot dog celebrating by the happy back.

Instead, there was quiet determination. Moravian was clinging to a scant 15-10 lead and wanted to run the clock out. The yards were slow and hard for Joseph, but five plays later he finally ripped a 38 yard run to thwart the Mules' hopes.

"We weren't worried about the 1,000 yards," Moravian head coach Rocco Calvo would say later. "That was irrelevant to the game."

Irrelevant? The last three years, Joseph had been a one-man wrecking crew against the Mules, rushing for 136, 106 and 134 yards since his freshman year. It seemed that the Greyhounds fortunes against Muhlenberg rested on Joseph's ability to tote the football.

Joseph wound up with 79 yards on 24 carries yesterday afternoon, putting his numbers at 1,048 yards on the year, and a career record 2,756 yards.

"It was a tough day all around," a relieved Joseph said after congratulating the Muhlenberg players on a fine game. "You know, they were up for us. They wanted it a lot more than we did and we came back and pulled it out in the end."

But what about the 1,000 yard mark?Wasn't that a cause for jubilation? "It was a great accomplishment," the 5-11, 185-pounder admitted. "It meant more to me the way this game ended than any game I've played."

While Moravian was downplaying its first 1,000 yard rusher, Muhlenberg defensive coordinator Stan Luckenbill admitted the Mules felt Joseph's running would be a key in the contest.

"Sure it's a goal to keep him under 100 yards," the disappointed coach said. "Our goal was to keep him under 31, under that 1,000. He broke the one at the end. He's a good back, a super athlete, a super football player.

"We had great preparation," Luckenbill said of the Mules' defensive effort that limited Joseph to under 100 yards against them for the first time in his career. "The staff did a great job and the kids played super. It was a great effort. Everybody was going to the ball today."

Joseph needed just 31 yards coming into the game, and seemed to relax a bit after finally breaking through the 1,000 yard mark.

"Thirty one is kind of a given, but on a day like this," the young man said, "anything can happen. I think something really clicked in my mind (after getting the 1,000) and I really got it going after that."

Still, the yardage came slowly for Joseph. When he scored the game's first touchdown on a two yard run with 3:20 left in the first half, he had just seven yards on eight carries. The cold, steady rain had a lot to do with that as well.

"Oh yeah," Joseph agreed. "Our linemen couldn't get off the ball. The ground was really wet."

Instead of complaining about the rain, though, the Greyhounds played on until something broke through. That something was Jimmy Joseph, who couldn't care less if raindrops were falling on his head, just as long as Moravian won the football game.